People of all ages and gender have the undesirable task of dealing with dirty feet, fungal infections, and athlete's foot at some stage of their life. Community showers are frequently used in men's and women's locker rooms and residual dirty shower water can remain in the shower from prior users and cause fungal and other diseases, for example, athlete's foot. Ages affected range from teens to senior citizens. There are over approximately three million cases of athlete's foot alone every year.
Spas and certain sports clubs have individual showers but typically provide small lockers for storing one's personal clothing as well as any accessories. Consequently, these small lockers provide very little room to contain a known foot and toe washer which is known to extend approximately three to four feet in length. Consequently, users of known foot and toe washers must bring their foot and toe washers to the sports club each time they use it for lack of storage space.
Athletes, industrial workers, even business people with long commutes are susceptible to athlete's foot. No one on the planet has the luxury of not washing their feet. Coincidentally, this can be one of, if not the most cumbersome, parts of the body to thoroughly wash. However, if foot-washing were made easier, preventative maintenance in regard to foot care can be done with ease. In turn, this would lead to a lesser chance of encountering nasty fungal infections or skin rashes and allow for a more pleasant lifestyle.
The main problem that leads to foot and toe neglect, lack of cleanliness, athlete's foot disease contaminated water and more severe foot related medical conditions requiring frequent cleansing is simply due to difficulty and lack of convenience. Many people do not have large showers. Leaning over on a slippery surface in a small shower stall to wash your feet with a bar of soap can be somewhat awkward and is not ideal. Most of the time, an individual may need to prop their foot up on the side of the bathtub, to spill water onto the floor, to lean on the shower walls for support, or to crouch down in an uncomfortable position to wash their feet. For those who work long days, suffer from soreness, muscle strain, back or neck injuries and senior citizens who may fear slipping and falling in the shower because they cannot easily reach their feet, known methods of washing feet create a serious problem. Additionally, our generation is always looking for something to be more efficient and convenient.
Athlete's foot derives its name from the great number of community showers in sports facilities where men's and women's showers comprise rooms of showerheads and a common drain. For example, in high schools and colleges, community showers serve many students, and the dirty shower water on the floor of the community shower is allowed to stand, be exposed to the air and germs and permit the growth of fungi. So while small showers and bath tubs can create a problem, so can large community showers.
Toe washers without a telescopic handle are known in the art. For example, a foot and toe scrubber with a long, curved handle and a scrubber on one end is disclosed in published U.S. Patent Application, Pub. No. US2004/0107976 by Lawson et al. A similar design is disclosed in published Japanese patent application No. JP2006-141510. A bath sponge and toe washer combination sold by Preston Inc. is available on Amazon, and other foot washers are available from Aidacare Healthcare Equipment, Toe Cleaner, and Procter Health Care. These toe washers are not telescopic.
An example of a telescopic mirror 100 is shown in FIG. 1 available from Blue-Point USA, model 225. There is a handle 110 and a first extension 112 which is external to a plurality of internal extensions 114. The first extension 112 may be extended only as long as its length and typically is gripped by the handle 110 using friction between the handle 110 and the end of the first extension 112. This telescopic mirror 100, 120 appears to have a total of seven extensions 110, 112, 114 which may be easily extended. The extensions are probably held when extended by friction between tapered ends of the extensions to one another. The mirror 120 may mounted so as to be held by a clamp in one position to a final extension and may be used as a spy device for looking around corners or for similar uses.
A tree or bush trimmer is also known for trimming trees of dead branches having two long extensions, the second pull-out extension has a saw attachment and a clipper with a string pull to snip branches. This tree trimmer is extendable to approximately twelve feet in length. Each extension has a tapered out inside extension and a tapered inward outside extension so that they may be held together by friction by extending and twisting the extensions to be held together by friction similarly to the extendable mirror 100 of FIG. 1.
Another known mechanism seen in FIG. 2A in unlocked state and in FIG. 2B in locked state that is known for locking extensions together in place is a ball held by a spring to an inside extension. The ball rides along the extension until it is pushed by the spring into a slot or orifice. The ball is thus locked into place (and extension) by moving the extension and spring-loaded ball into an orifice of an outside extension. Attachments to vacuum cleaners and to extend the length of vacuum cleaner handles, for example, have this spring ball and socket feature.
An extendable heavy baton for subduing criminals is known manufactured by Smith and Wesson. The single baton has three weighted extensions and may lock into place using the spring ball and orifice method “with the flip of the wrist.” It is simply closed to its shorter length by pushing the baton against the wall or the floor possibly to release the spring ball and orifice lock. Once the spring ball and lock are released, the baton can reach its intended length. This baton has no means to attach another device to it. The baton is simply for subduing a criminal, and its shorter, non-extended length makes it more portable.
Umbrellas that spring open at the touch of a button may use the spring-loaded ball and orifice method or a spring-loaded, thin triangular metal member and slot method. There are strings attached to a known Burberry umbrella that pull on the umbrella to open the umbrella at the same time as springs open the extensions to lock into place. But an umbrella is not a foot and toe washer. Consequently, there is a need in the art for an extendable foot and toe washer that may share the features of a telescopic design with the concept of attachable sponges, or wash cloths or other foot and toe cleaning apparatus. Band-Aid brand wound bandages may be pre-medicated or adaptable to have particular medication (for Athlete's foot or for medicating a wound such as a blister, sore or open wound). A known sponge or washcloth may be used to apply soap to one's skin when the sponge is wet. These known devices of a wash cloth and a telescopic handle provide the advantage of greater portability, ease of use and easier storage but are not known in combination. However, it also would be desirable to be able to open a foot washer to different lengths, include a washer that may also medicate, if necessary, so that the foot and toe washer, for example, may be shortened to wash one's back and lengthened to reach places on the body more distant and harder to reach such as the feet and toes and long enough and so equipped to serve the particular purpose of a foot and toe washer (and back washer) and medicine applicator.